1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cutting devices and, more specifically, to an improved core trimmer for cutting excess core material from a finished roll of a manufactured product.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous pipe or tube cutting tools have been devised particularly over the past century which range and operate from purely mechanical cutters to more advanced electro-mechanical pipe cutting devices. Some of the earlier advances for conventional pipe cutting tools have been in the area of material hardness in honor of Brinell. As rated by Brinell hardness, every material has an associative material hardness which allows cutting between distinct and separate mating materials. This fundamental material advancement was the basis of patents issued as early as the early 1900""s with the addition of special blade-bar linkage mechanism to improve expandability and extendibility of mechanical cutters as rotating devices. These particular mechanical improvements are described in the patents issued to Wathier (U.S. Pat. No. 667,857), Shackelford (U.S. Pat. No. 764,637), Morelli (U.S. Pat. No. 1,100,760), Henrikson (U.S. Pat. No. 1,108,171), Arnold (U.S. Pat. No. 1,748,099), Oberhuber (U.S. Pat. No. 1,922,630), Smith (U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,105) and Lewis et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,722) which utilize numerous movable mechanical cutting elements.
These conventional features are known to be prone to mechanical failure due to material fatigue from cyclical stresses, and are usually difficult or nearly impossible to restore to normal use. The core trimmer as herein described is an adaptive core trimming device with reduced mechanical parts which do not suffer problems associated with the previous and following conventional cutting tools.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,950 issued to Kurtz discloses an interior pipe-cutter for cutting plastic pipe encased in concrete such as a drain pipe extending through a concrete floor including a rotatable mandrel having a plurality of radially movable cutters mounted therein and having an axially movable wedge for moving the cutters radially outwardly as the mandrel is rotated.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,574 issued to Jones discloses an internal pipe cutting apparatus comprising a shaft, a structural element slidably and rotatably mounted on the shaft for centering the shaft inside the pipe, and for controlling the distance of entry of the shaft inside the pipe. A saw-head is perpendicularly attached to the shaft cuts surfaces attached to the saw head whereby the cutting surfaces upon rotation of the saw head by the shaft are thrown by centrifugal force outward away from the shaft onto the inner surface of the pipe for cutting engagement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,185 issued to Montiero discloses an adjustable interior pipe cutter whereby a pipe or work-piece is cut from the inside out by rotating cutters which are mounted on the ends of pivoted sliding guides. The guides are pivoted at an end opposite that of the cutters and the pivoting action expands the end of the guides where the cutters are attached. The pivoting guides are driven by rotation motion inside the wall of a pipe.
Foreign Patents granted to Watanabe (JP 56159426) and Ivano (SU 1215889) disclose submersible and semi-submersible pipe cutting mechanisms which produce interior cuts for steel pipes, respectively. Of particular note, the Japanese patent discloses a pipe cutter which is deployed with cutting blades activated by a spring loaded guide which directs the blades radially outward of a rotatable housing via apertures formed within the walls the housing.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a core trimmer solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The improved core trimmer of this invention is a motor driven device with an internal sliding shaft having a long taper, that advances a cutter block containing a single blade portion, which enables clean removal of extraneous core material within a cutting plane made in a direction perpendicular with respect to a central axis of the core trimmer, without the need for intermittent translation or back and forth motion of the drive shaft of the core trimmer as required by similar conventional cutters. The rotating cutter block contains two cam follower bearings which hold even pressure on two sides opposite the cutting blade. This feature allows for rolling and non-inhibiting contact within the core of a work-piece or substrate while the blade advances and cuts with even pressure applied to the drive shaft of the trimmer.
As the cutting blade rotates, it cuts and advances with minimal pressure applied along the shaft until the cutter is completely through the core. The blade cuts into a bushing mounted adjacent to the blade as a backing for a clean cut of the core substrate. The extraneous core material is ejected from the trimmer via a spring loaded ejection mechanism. After the extraneous core material is ejected, the mechanism is restored to its original position via an equal and opposite stored restoring force developed by the applied force according to Hooke""s Law. A cutter advance block is shaped and configured as truncated angular ring to advance the cutting blade along a predetermined linear slope.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved core trimmer for removing extraneous core material from rolls of material as prefabricated or manufactured materials.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved core trimmer which adapted for attachment with a different array of electro-motor devices.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved core trimmer which delivers simple blade alignment and disengagement with reduced mechanical and rotatable elements.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved core trimmer which dislodges cur core materials by a simple ejection mechanism.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.